LET'S COMMUNICATE
Agriculture Communication Newsletter
April 2008, No. 148

Contents

E-mail Lists and Search Functions Updated
Use Non-discrimination and Accommodations Statements
New Stands Ready for Your Banners
PowerPoint Design Tip #8: Use the Right Graphic Format
Ag Com Staff Provide Videoconference and Other Support
Write the Right Word
New Publications Available from the Distribution Center

E-mail Lists and Search Functions Updated

Agriculture and University Extension's e-mail lists have been switched from the majordomo system with @ndsuext.nodak.edu to the NDSU Listserv system with @listserv.nodak.edu. The listing of e-mail lists is posted on the password-protected Ag Info Center at http://info.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu . This site requires logging in with your old @ndsuext.nodak.edu username and password to reduce spam. Forgot it?

Call the help desk at 231-8685.

The e-mail list addresses all begin with "NDSU" and have a hyphen before the group's identification. You might want to insert a hard return before an e- mail list address since the hyphen may cause a return where you don't want it.

Non-personal e-mail addresses that go to only one person also begin with "NDSU" but have a dot rather than a hyphen. For example, Sharon Lane receives e-mail addressed to NDSU.DistributionCenter@ndsu.edu and Wes Limesand receives NDSU.sheepbarn@ndsu.edu e-mail.

Please target e-mail messages as specifically as possible. E-mail to all- ag goes to faculty, county agents, technicians, secretaries, nutrition assistants, administrators -- everybody under the Agriculture and University Extension umbrella both on and off campus. Is your message really appropriate for all those people?

The NDSU Web search function has been updated to include searches of Ag servers, and some Ag pages are moving to Google custom searches for improved searches.

The national eXtension initiative provides a custom search of all Cooperative Extension sites together across the country. The site at http://search.extension.org is a link on the NDSU Extension Service home page.

Use Non-discrimination and Accommodations Statements

NDSU Executive Director and Chief Diversity Officer Evie Myers reminds us to include the non-discrimination statement on printed materials. This statement says: North Dakota State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, Vietnam Era Veterans status, sexual orientation, marital status, or public assistance status. Direct inquiries to the Executive Director and Chief Diversity Officer, 202 Old Main, (701) 231-7708.

When hosting a program people will attend in person, we must offer accommodations with this statement: Individuals with disabilities are invited to request reasonable accommodations to participate in NDSU-sponsored programs and events.

To request an accommodation(s), please contact (person or department sponsoring the event) at (phone or e-mail) by (specific date) to make arrangements.

New Stands Ready for Your Banners

Ag Communication now has banner stands ready for checkout. These stands can hold banners about 3 feet wide and up to 7 feet tall and can also hold two banners back to back. The clips at the top and bottom make it easy to insert your personalized banner. The stands with banners are great for conferences, meetings and trade shows.

See us for designing and printing your full-color banners for these stands or for other purposes. This is a great, affordable option to the expensive long- term banner systems. Call or e-mail for prices.

John Grindahl, (701) 231-7898, john.grindahl@ndsu.edu

PowerPoint Design Tip #8: Use the Right Graphic Format

The use of graphics makes information more appealing and easier to understand. Graphics include clip art, photographs, charts, tables, maps, arrows and graphs. Here are the best file formats to use for each:

*   Use the wmf (windows metafile) format for logos, clip art, maps, arrows, charts and graphs. The files are usually very small in size, and they    resize well with clean edges.
*   Use jpegs for photographs. The file size is smaller than tif files.
*   Avoid using gif files. This format is designed for Web graphics and looks blurry the more you enlarge it.

Get in the habit of adding graphics to your PowerPoint by using the Insert command rather than copying and pasting. It gives you more options if you need to make adjustments to the image.

Deb Tanner, (701) 231-7891, deb.tanner@ndsu.edu; John Grindahl, (701) 231-7898, john.grindahl@ndsu.edu

Ag Com Staff Provide Videoconference and Other Support

Ag Communication staff have knowledge and resources to help you with equipment decisions. The Ag IT Advisory Group hardware baseline at http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/policy/it/hardware.htm includes information about computers but also more equipment.

Videoconference Equipment -- Mike Miller, mike.miller@ndsu.edu, 857-7677

Contact Mike about new equipment, troubleshooting old equipment and, until Ag Com gets a new administrative assistant, scheduling multipoint videoconferences. Be sure to use the updated forms at http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/agcomm/videoconf/scheduling.htm for videoconference scheduling and changes.

Printers -- Jon Fry, jon.fry@ndsu.edu, 231-7934

Scanners -- Deb Tanner, deb.tanner@ndsu.edu, 231-7891

Digital Cameras -- Becky Koch, becky.koch@ndsu.edu, 231-7875, or Bruce Sundeen, bruce.sundeen@ndsu.edu, 231-7953

Write the Right Word

Despite what some writers believe, the words "among" and "between" are not interchangeable. Use "between" when referring to a relationship involving two things or people. For example, "The teacher told the students to choose between going to the zoo or the museum for the class field trip." "The race for the school board seat will be between two candidates."

Use "among" when discussing more than two items or people. "The farmer divided his land among his three sons." "Researchers studying the effect of distillers grains in cattle diets did not see any difference in weight gain among the five treatments."

However, "between" is the correct word when expressing the relationship of three or more items or people if those people or items are considered pairs.

"Negotiations are under way between the president and the leaders of the House and Senate on a new farm bill." In this instance, the president is one- half of the pair and the leaders are considered collectively as the other half.

Ellen Crawford, (701) 231-5391, ellen.crawford@ndsu.edu

New Publications Available from the Distribution Center

FN1355 -- Roid Rage

Desiree Tande´s publication on steroids addresses why people use them, what they can do to your body, how they are abused and the commonly abused steroids we should be aware of.

FN1356 -- Fuel for Top Performance

The most effective way to prepare for competition or re-energize your body after competition is through adequate water intake and a balanced, healthful diet. Desiree Tande points out the importance of water and what you should eat.

AS1357 -- Management Options for Maximizing Dry-cow Performance Advancements in feeding systems, milking frequency and the use of other technological advances have caused producers to consider a shorter dry- cow period. This four-page publication by Penny Nester, Nicholas Bork, David Carlson and J.W. Schroeder guides producers through considerations that will help them decide what is best for their operation.

AE1359 -- No-cost, Low-cost Home Energy-saving Tips Carl Pedersen and Ken Hellevang have developed this short and precise guideline to help cut on ever-growing energy costs.

Let's Communicate
Past issues and topics from Let's Communicate are at www.ag.ndsu.edu/agcomm/letscomm/letscomm.htm. If you have questions or comments, or would like to submit information or make a suggestion for Let's Communicate, please contact me.